Don't scold! I have a perfectly good reason for starting
a new story. I've issued a challenge on
WIKTT, and it is only fitting that I answer my own challenge. You can find "The Marriage Law" challenge on
the WIKTT group. It runs through 09/14/2004 for those who are interested, giving you an
entire year to respond. Those of you who
want to give it a whirl, please do so and have a blast while you're at it.

As usual, I own
nothing. The great and powerful J.K.
Rowling is the true genius behind it all.

Love,

ChelleyBean

~***~

"But, Lizzie."

"Don't you 'but Lizzie' me, Augustus Snape!" Elizabeth Snape folded a nightgown
haphazardly before slamming it into her suitcase. She could do this faster by magic, of course,
but doing it by hand kept her from throttling her husband of seven years. "You know how I feel about that 'law'. I'm on the committee working towards having
the damn thing repealed!"

A gasp from the doorway made them turn. Standing there were three girls, ages three,
five and six. All three had hair that
was the same dark black as their father's had been in his youth, but in a riot
of baby-doll ringlets like their mother's.
The two eldest had obsidian eyes to match the hair, the toddler's eyes
were a clear, bright blue. The two
eldest were growing tall and were very slender while the toddler's baby-fat
still made her cheeks and limbs delightfully pudgy. The middle girl looked up at her elder sister
and gave a whisper that was clearly audible to the adults. "Mother swore!"

"Now look what you've made me do!" Elizabeth's
voice cracked like a whip as she slammed her suitcase shut. "Cathy, did you pack everything like I told
you?"

The oldest girl nodded.
"I packed for myself and Jenny packed for herself. We both packed for the baby."

The toddler's face screwed up and she plucked her thumb from
her mouth. "I not baby!"

"You're taking the girls?"
Augustus gave his wife a look of pure incredulity. His young wife sighed.

"Of course I'm taking the girls. I can hardly leave you to deal with them, and
my mother's been bothering me to bring them to visit for ages."

"But… you are
coming back, aren't you? I mean… this is
hardly a matter to dissolve a marriage over!"

"Augustus, you know very well that a wizarding marriage
cannot be dissolved. Otherwise there
would be no point that that idiotic law!"
Pale cheeks were tinged with angry red as she tugged the suitcase from
the bed. "I'm certain that once I've
calmed down enough to be in the same room with you and not want to turn you
into a toad, we'll be back. Until then,
however, I'm taking the girls with me so that they do not have to witness
what's coming."

"What's coming?"

"Honestly, Augustus, if I didn't know better I'd say that
you're going senile." Elizabeth
walked towards the door. "You do realize that your son is going to
show up at any moment, ready for your blood?"

Catherine's eyes widened.
"Severus is coming?" She looked
both fearful and hopeful. Jennifer,
however, gave a squeal and bounced on her toes.

Elizabeth
dropped her suitcase and placed her hands over the toddler's ears. "Don't say things like that! You know she's bound to repeat what she
hears! Sometimes I wonder how you can
complain about your son when you're every bit as bad as he is. Cathy, Jenny, take Trinity downstairs."

"Are we going to take the car, Mother?"

"Are you sure it still works, Mum? Jenny took Trinity's chubby little hand into
her own.

"Of course it still works.
Go on and get inside. I'll be
there soon."

"Not before kissing your father good-bye, you don't." Augustus glared at his wife as he walked past
her and lowered himself onto one knee.
Three girls took turns giving their father a hug and a kiss. "Be good for your mother and grandmother, and
remind them what a great man I am." He
ignored the snort from his wife behind him.
"If you're very good, maybe I can talk your mother into letting me take
you to the sweet shop when you get back."

"We'll be perfect, Father," said Catherine, very
seriously.

"We won't even pull pranks on Grandmother's cat," added
Jennifer.

"Want lolly," stated Trinity with a very stubborn set to her
chin.

"Ask your grandmother for a lolly when you get to her
house. She's bound to have some."

"That's enough, girls.
Go down to the car." Elizabeth
watched her daughters vanish down the hallway, her back ramrod straight.

"Lizzie…"

"That law is an abomination.
They've taken bright, promising young men and women and reduced them to…
to… breeding stock!"

"I know, Darling, but…"

"Then why did you do it?"
She rounded on him, her face suddenly very pale. "If you agree with me, why did you commit the
same sin that those stuck-up, self-centered, pureblood idiots have been doing
for the past three months? Is this the
real you? Do you think that muggleborns
are beneath you, unworthy of being allowed to make their own choices? Is that all I am to you, breeding stock?"

Augustus blinked.
"No! I already had my heir! I didn't need to marry a muggleborn to save
my family line; I married you because I love you."

"So instead of supporting me in my attempts to abolish that
damn law, when as a muggleborn who married a pureblood of her own, free will I
have more credibility than anyone, you go behind my back and take advantage of
the damn thing!"

"I was desperate! The
boy is being unreasonable!"

"Augustus, your son is almost forty. Don't you think it's high time you stopped
calling him 'the boy'? And what of this
poor girl you've shackled to him? Did
you know her parents are also working with the committee? We have several Muggles who have joined us
for the sake of their children. And the
girl happens to be very close to the Weasleys.
They have six sons, four of whom are still unattached. Did you ever stop to think that she may be
thinking of spending the rest of her life with one of them?"

"Waste a girl like that on the Weasleys?" The words slipped out of his mouth before he
could stop them, and from the way his wife's eyes flew open, he knew he had
said something terribly wrong.

"And at that, I take my leave of you. If I manage to calm down, I'll send you an
owl. When your son arrives, do recall
that you've got every bit of it coming to you."
The words were like ice as they fell from her lips. Without another glance for her husband,
Elizabeth Snape reclaimed her suitcase and stalked out of the bedchamber she
shared with her husband. Augustus had
long since learned that it was foolishness to try and talk her out of a temper
when she was in the midst of one. She
had done this before, although she had never taken all the children with her,
only whichever one still needed nappies changed or was still
breastfeeding. He could usually count on
her leaving Catherine to keep him company.
She did have a point, though. The
law was quite despicable, and Augustus didn't really agree with it.
However, his son was almost
forty and he still refused to do his duty to the family by settling down and
having children of his own. He and his
son were the last of the Snapes, and Augustus didn't have the heart to ask Elizabeth
to have another child, not when having Trinity had nearly killed her.

The law was quite vicious, really. The Ministry of Magic had finally paid
attention to the warnings of the Healers who had long since realized what was
causing the dramatic rise in squib births and stillbirths among purebloods. It was the same thing that was causing the
steady decline of intelligence, magical power and attractiveness in the same
group. Too many generations of cousins
marrying cousins to keep the bloodlines pure had wreaked havoc on the genetics
of the Old Families. Studies proved
again and again that those established families who married Muggles or
Muggleborns every now and again were more stable, more prolific and more
powerful. If the Old Families were going
to be saved, they were going to have to start marrying Muggleborns and
half-bloods themselves.

The problem was that Muggles didn't hold with such
old-fashioned ideas as betrothals. The
Old Families still mapped out every aspect of their children's lives, even to
the point of selecting their future spouses.
Muggles preferred to let their children forge their own paths and had
proven unwilling to enter into betrothal contracts with the purebloods that had
approached them. Some of the members of these Old Families had taken their
troubles to Fudge, and somehow it had all culminated in The Marriage Law. Under the new law any pureblood wizard or the
head of a pureblood wizard family could petition for a betrothal contract
binding a Muggleborn witch or wizard to them.
At first, surprisingly, it had been Muggleborn wizards who had been
taken. They had been included in the law
for a sense of fairness, but no one had really thought that many families would
want their precious daughters marrying outside of the Old Families. Upon closer inspection, however, it had been
found that many of these young wizards were already involved in romances with
their future spouses, and the girls had begged their fathers to petition for
them out of fear that some other family would steal them away. It wasn't until the past few weeks that
things had begun in earnest.

The most scandalous incident so far had been a bloody fist
fight that had erupted between a young man named Marcus Flint and that middle
child of Arthur Weasley. Apparently
young Weasley had gotten wind that Flint
was going to petition for one Miss Penelope Clearwater the following day, so he
swept his schooldays sweetheart off to Scotland
immediately and married her straight away.
Flint had been near murderous upon finding out, but eventually calmed
down enough to settle for his second choice, a young witch by the name of
Silverton. Rumor had it that the girl
had gone into hysterics upon finding out that she was going to be forced to
marry the boy and had attempted to run off to Australia. Flint
and his father had tracked her down and brought her back to their family home,
and the Ministry did nothing to stop them.
The last picture of the couple in the papers had shown a quiet, subdued
girl who wouldn't raise her eyes from the ground before her, let alone smile.

Parkinson had surprised everyone by claiming a young
Muggleborn wizard by the name of Dean Thomas for his daughter. Though Thomas was legally of age, he still
had one year of school left, along with his future bride. Augustus suspected it was Mrs. Parkinson's
idea. The boy was said to be quite the
artist, so much so that Albus Dumbledore had commissioned him to create a
painting for the school. Devinia
Parkinson was a great lover of the arts and would be thrilled should she manage
to have a grandchild who could be the next Picasso. The very next day the Thomases had sought out
Elizabeth Snape and joined her efforts to have the law repealed. Mr. Thomas was a rather wealthy banker who
had married an heiress, and their funds combined with Lizzie's considerable
allowance gave them plenty of gold with which to fund their campaign.

There were several others so far, but not as many as there
could have been. The Muggleborns weren't
added to the list until they were of legal age, and the purebloods tended to
avoid anyone over the age of twenty because they would have already become too
headstrong and unyielding to be easily bullied into submission. Upon attaining legal age the Muggleborn witch
or wizard's name appeared on the list by magic, along with a file listing all
their attributes and academic achievements.
Augustus, feeling desperate after yet another year of his son refusing
to so much as open his letters, had gone to the Department of Family Affairs to
view the list just the other day. He had
been thoroughly disappointed by the selection, at first, until the list of
names there began to shift and move to make way for a new one. He had requested the file and had been
thrilled at what he found. The girl was
perfect! Intelligent, brave and
definitely on the side of good. The
sketch that had magically appeared in the file had shown a woman who was, if
not a classic beauty, better than average in looks and possessing the kind of
bone structure that would remain attractive throughout the years long after
today's beauties had succumbed to the ravages of age. He had signed the forms at once, stopped at a
nearby pub for a couple of drinks and then headed home to tell his daughters a
bed time story and join his wife for a rather enthusiastic bit of cuddling
before falling to sleep.

He was still deep into his musings when a loud bang rang up
from the bottom story of the house. "FATHER!" Augusts winced and sighed. Speaking of stubborn children…

Solid, purposefully heavy footsteps sounded on the elegant,
highly polished wood floors below. Eventually
they found their way to the stairwell and increased in volume as they drew
nearer. Augustus walked over to a chair
by the large window in the bedchamber he shared with his wife and sat down,
crossing one leg over the other in a practiced pose of composed unconcern. He was purposefully studying his nails when
he saw his son stalk into the room out of the corner of his eye. "Severus, how good of you to come for a
visit."

"And just what is
the meaning of this?" the cold voice
of his only heir snarled. Augustus
looked up to see Severus brandishing a roll of parchment in the Department of
Family Affairs official silver-white.

"It would appear to be a Ministry of Magic ordained
betrothal contract. I would have thought
it was fairly simple to understand."

Severus face crooked into a nasty sort of grin. The boy's entire appearance was quite
off-putting. What did he do to his hair
to make it so blasted greasy? His
mother, Augustus' first wife, had been blessed with a mane of glorious ebony
locks the texture of silk (when Augustus allowed himself to dwell on those
years) and the Snapes had always been blessed with a healthy head of hair. The nose, poor thing, had come from the
Snapes, as had the eyes. The thinness of
body had been from his mother's family (the Snapes were rather massive in the
chest, although tall, giving them the look of professional opera tenors). Actually, if the boy would take better care
of his hair and apply a few dental charms (no idea where those teeth came from)
he wouldn't be too hard on the eyes.

"Why yes, I believe it is a betrothal contract. Now would you be so kind as to tell me why
the devil you did this?!"

Augustus raised one perfectly shaped, ebony brow. "I would think that obvious. Thirty and unmarried is nothing unusual for a
wizard, but nearing forty and single
is something to be concerned about."

"I'M PERFECTLY HAPPY BEING NEARLY FORTY AND SINGLE!"

"But you have a duty to your family."

"DEVIL TAKE THIS BLOOD FAMILY!"

That hurt, it truly did, but Augustus didn't blame the
boy. He really had bungled thing with
his son from the start. He didn't blame
the brat if he felt no drive to further the line. "Severus, I know you're upset, and for good
reason. However, I have done what I felt
was best for all parties concerned. Even
if you do not wish to become a father, surely you don't wish to remain all alone
in life. Take if from a happily married
man; a wife is a wonderful thing to have."

"So you pair me up with her? You do realize that she is one of my
students? A current student?"

"Yes, I do believe that was mentioned in the file. Also mentioned was the fact that she's shattered
every academic record, including those set by Tom Riddle, a.k.a. He Who Must
Not Be Named and the prediction that she will be more powerful than even Albus
Dumbledore once she's trained up properly.
Lucky I was there when her named popped up, really."

"I happen to know that her birthday isn't until September 19th. There is no way that she can be considered of
legal age. This contract is illegal!"

"No, no, the contract is valid." Augustus got up and walked over to the
dresser, atop which was the file on his future daughter-in-law. "It's all right here; something about a
time-turner she was given during her third year. Apparently the little dear signed up for
every possible class, and rather than forcing her to shave her subject list
back, they let her have a time turner so she could repeat hours. Added about five weeks and three days to her
age." He chuckled richly. "Reminds me of your mother, actually,
although Desdemona was never quite that
ambitious. Pity the girl wasn't born a
pureblood, or she would have been in Slytherin.
Of course, had that been the case, we wouldn't be having this discussion."

"She is the most annoying, the most irritating chit ever
born! And if you think that I will ever stoop so low as to touch that
little bint…"

"Not touch her?"
Augustus pulled out the sketch and studied it closely. "Why ever not? Lovely little thing. I certainly wouldn't kick her out of bed for
eating biscuits."

"Yes, well it is an established fact that you are nothing
but a dirty lecher."

"That's rather low, don't you think?"

"What else do you call a man who marries a woman younger
than his own son?" Severus mimicked the
famous Snape brow arch and looked around.
"Speaking of which, where is the little tart?"

"Keep a civil tongue when speaking of your
step-mother." Augustus' voice was ever
bit as cold as his son's could be, but he felt he should at least be
honest. "She's taken the girls and gone
to her mother's. She's not very happy
with me at the moment."

Severus gave a confused frown. "Girls?"

Augustus sighed and rolled his eyes. "If you ever bothered to open the letters I
sent you, you would know that you are a brother, to three adorable little
girls."

His son gave him a wide eyed expression of shock. "Merlin's Balls! You're still procreating?"

"Quite spectacularly, actually. You know, Lizzie and I are living proof that
the reasons behind this law are valid ones.
Your mother and I had three children who didn't live past a month before
you. Lizzie and I never had a bit of
trouble."

"I'm so very happy for you."
The sarcasm dripped like melted candle wax from his son's lips.

"Mind the cheek, whelp."
Augustus squared his shoulders.
"Yes, your step-mother is unhappy with me at the moment. She is leading
the movement to have The Marriage Law abolished, you know. She's rather upset at my course of actions."

"Really? Who would
have thought that a Hufflepuff would have developed such a high level of
intelligence? I shall have to remember
to find a reason to award a point to her house when I return."

Augustus plowed on as though he had not been
interrupted. "But, I know my wife well
enough to know that she'll eventually come around in the end. Oh, she'll still insist the law is wrong, but
she simply cannot stand to sleep alone."
A dreamy smile crossed his face.

"That was more knowledge than I required of you."

"Merlin's Nightcap!
Don't tell me you're still a virgin."

"NO I'M BLOODY WELL NOT!"

Augustus let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness for that. I was worried there for a moment." A polite smile returned to his face. "Well then, I best be off. I've got an errant wife to coax back into
them home and I know a gifted jeweler in Amsterdam
who will be a great assistance. Would
you like me to pick up an engagement ring for your young lady while I'm there?"

"No I most certainly do not!"

"Quite right, of course.
Nothing less than the Snape family ring will do. I'll pick up a ring for Lizzie to replace it,
then. Must hold to traditions, mustn't
we."

"YOU AREN'T GOING ANY WH…" but it was too late. Augustus gave a jaunty smile and a wave
before disapparating from sight.

Severus growled and reached out blindly, closing his fingers
around something on a nearby dresser and hurling it across the room. The beautiful crystal perfume bottle
shattered, drowning the room in the thick scent of jasmine and lilies.

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